Self-discharging skip.



A. GIBB & T. G. MENZIES.

SELF DISGHARGING SKIP. APPLICATION FILED JULY 22, 1910:

.L M d/m 4 2 n LIJ on on d m m a D COLUMBIA PLANOCIRAPH 110.,WASHINGTON, D- c.

A. GIBB & T. G. MBNZIES.

SELF DISGHARGING SKIP. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 22, 1910.

Patented 081;. 24, 1911 a sums-sum 2.

COLUMBIA PLANDCIWH C0.,WASH|NGTON, D. C-

A. GIBB &T. G. MENZIES. SELF DISGHARGING SKIP. urmommn nun JULY 22,1910.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (IO-,WASNINGTON. n. c.

Patented Oct. 24, 1911.

ALEXANDER GIBB, 0F PONTYPOOL, ENGLAND, AND THOMAS GRAHAM MENZIES, OFNORTH QUEENSFERRY, SCOTLAND.

SELF-DISCHARGING SKIP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 22, 1910. Serial No. 573,237.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALEXANDER GIBB and THOMAS GRAHAM .MENZIES, civilengineers, subjects of the King of Great Britain, and residents,respectively, of Goytrey House, Pontypool, Monmouthshire, Wales, andFerry Craig, North Queensferry, Fifeshire, Scotland, have invented newand useful Improvements in Self Discharging Skips, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to self discharging skips or buckets and isparticularly applicable to the depositing of concrete under Water.

The object of the present invention is to provide a skipwhich can beslung from a crane having a single hoisting and lowering rope, and whichis so constructed and slung from the said crane that, on the skip beinglanded on the ground or other support, certain parts of the sling bywhich it is sus pended are automatically released, thus enablingthe skipto be tilted, a door in the skip to be automatically opened at the sametime and the contents discharged very gently. The design of the skip issuch that it can be very cheaply constructed, and it has no complicatedparts liable to get out of order in the rough usage to which this classof machinery is subject.

'The accompanying drawings illustrate the construction and mode ofoperation of the skip.

The same lettered.

' Figure 1. is a side elevation of the skip. Fig. 2. is an end elevationof the skip look ing on the door end. Fig. 3. is a plan of the skip withchains removed for clearness. Fig. 4. is an end elevation viewed at thedoor end of the skip showing an alternative method of attaching thesling chains. Fig. 5. is a side elevation of the skip in the process oftipping and discharging its contents. Fig. 6. illustrates an alternativemethod of forming the hooks E. E.

' The skip is built in rectangular box form, open at the top, by bendinga single body plate A trough-wise and is closed permanently at one endby the plate B which is attached by angle irons and rivets to the bodyplate A. The other end of the skip is temporarily closed by the movabledoor G. This door consists of a single plate large parts in each Vieware similarly enough to cover and fit snugly over the end of the skip.The door is provided at its upper edge with two hooks R. R. by means ofwhich it is hung on a bar M which stretches across the door end of theskip and is attached at its ends to the body plate A. The lower edge ofthe door is notched to fit into the catch D which is'attached to thebottom of the skip. It will be seen that the door is kept in placenormally covering the end of the skip by means of the two hooks R. R.and the catch D. The door can only be removed. by lifting it out of thecatch D, this operation simultaneously disengagingthe hooks R. R. fromthe bar M. Two short chains T. T. terminating in the spring hooks S. S.are also attached to the upper edge of the door as shown in Fig. 2. Thisarrangement may be replaced by the alternative method shown in Fig. 4 inwhich only one short chain T with spring hook S is attached to themiddle of the top edge of the door C. The use of these chains and hookswill be described later.

The body of the skip is provided with two eye lugs F. F. permanentlyattached one on each side of the upper edge of the body plate A near tothe permanently closed end. Two hooks E. E. are permanently attachedalso to the top edge of the body plate one on each side near the doorend. These hooks are made in the form shown and it will be seen that thedoor end of the skip maybe suspended by a bridle chain such as J. J.having two tails terminating in rings P. P. in which the hooks E. E. arehung.

The construction is such that the rings P. P.

will remain in position on the books E. E. when the tails J. J. aretaut, but if the skip be permitted to rest on the ground or othersupport the tails J. J. will slacken, causing the rings P. P. to dropoff the hooks E. E. An alternative form of hook as shown in Fig. 6 maybe used in place of those marked E. E. The advantage of the hook asillustrated in Fig. 6 is that the ring P cannot fall over the shank whenthe chain is slackened, but must alwaysfall clear on one side.

The door end of the skip may be reinforced by having a strip W rivetedto the body plate A in the position shown.

In order to suspend the skip from a crane rope and operate it in themanner required, there is provided a bridle chain consisting of fourtails J. J. and N. N. all springing from one common apex ring H which isattached to the said crane hoisting and lowering rope. The tails N. N.terminate in spring hooks G. G. which are hooked one in each eye lug F.F. The tails J. J. terminate in rings as before described, also otherrings K. K. are included in the tails J. J. in an intermediate positionbetween the end rings P. P. and the apex ring H. The positions of therings K. K. are such that the spring hooks S. S. at the ends of shortchains T. T. which are securely attached to the door may be hookedintothem when the bridle chain is taut. The skip is thus suspended in ahorizontal position from its four corners when filled with material tobe deposited.

The discharging operation is as follows The skip is lowered on to theground (or other support) and as the bridle chains slaoken the rings P.P. fall off the hooks E. E. falling in toward the middle of the skip.The spring hooks G. G. and S. S. will remain attached respectively tothe eye lugs F. F. and the rings K. K. If the bridle chain be now hauledtaut and an attempt made to lift the skip by means of the crane fromwhich it is suspended the pull will be exerted through the tails J. J.and the short chains T. T. on the door thus lifting it out of itsfastenings at R. R. and D. and at the same time the closed end of theskip will be tilted up into the position shown in Fig. 5 thus permittingthe contents to be gently tipped out. As hoisting continues the door endof the skip is gradually drawn back until the maximum angle of tilt isreached, when the skip begins to rise bodily off the ground, the door Changing loose by the tails J. J. lVhen the skip is landed to be refilledthe spring hooks G. G. are released from the eyes F. F. leaving only thedoor C hanging on the bridle chain. The door can thus be easily directedand lowered into place. The spring hooks S. S. are then released fromthe rings K. K. leaving the bridle chain suspended from the crane andthe skip ready to receive a fresh charge of concrete or other material.Using the alternative method of attaching the bridle chain as shown inFig. 4:, the mode of operation is similar to that above described, theonly difference being that the door C is pulled open and suspended byone chain in stead of two. This arrangement offers advantages inreplacing thedoor when the skip has to rest on uneven ground and is thusleaning slightly to one side. It will be noticed that the tipping actioncan be carried out very gently, gradually spreading the contents out onthe ground or floor. This is a very desirable feature when a skip isrequired to deposit concrete under water where much disturbance wouldcause the cement mortar to be washed away from the aggregates. The skipmay be used for depositing other material such as earth, broken stone,ore, coal, grain, etc. The skip may be suspended and operated from anycrane, derrick, or like hoisting machine. One bridle chain may be usedfor operating a number of skips, the bridle always being left on thecrane hook when the skips are detached for filling.

The skip when used with solid materials to be deposited may have itsdoor removed altogether if the material to be deposited is of such anature that it will not be spilled when the skip is slung into thehorizontal position. In this case, the skip would be slung by the fourtails J. J. and N. N. respectively attached to the hooks E. E. and theeye lugs F. F. the rings K. K. not being used for any purpose in thisinstance. The tilting of the skip would be effected in the mannerpreviously described.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is A skip for discharging concrete, tails for suspending the skipat both ends from a suitable support, the tails at the front end of theskip being automatically detachable at points above the bottom of theskip, a door at the front end of the skip and a flexible door-openingconnection connected to the door and the detachable tails and arrangedto hang loosely when the skip is suspended by the tails at both ends andto tighten and open the door when the tails at the front end aredetached, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

Witnesses WM. M. HARR WER, James R. MARR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

